One of the benefits of shooting over 1600 images for the Green Rider Book Soundtrack artwork was that I had a LOT of images to choose from when it came time to create the final art pieces.

One of the drawbacks, however, was that for someone who is as indecisive as I am, this also made it really difficult to decide which images to start with. Fortunately, there is a wonderful thing called Facebook, where I could ask you which image I should edit and release next.

(Because yes… I even delegate decision making sometimes. And I’m not one bit ashamed of that).

 

So, after putting it to a vote, I decided to go with illusion for two reasons:

1) it had the most votes, and

2) Kristen voted for it, so naturally….

 

(As it turns out, it doesn’t take much convincing when the author herself weighs in!)

 

So with all that being said, here is the second official Green Rider Book Soundtrack art piece: The Illusion!

 

 

The editing for The Illusion went a lot like the first piece I shared (The Shield), as far as the lighting and color work were concerned. In fact, I even dragged and dropped most of the color and lighting adjustment layers from the first image onto this one so they would be processed with exactly the same adjustments. It was important to me to have these pieces match as closely as possible, not just because they are part of the same series, but also for another reason… which I’m going to tease you with and not share just yet!

Of course, if you missed my blog post explaining how I edited the first piece and you’re wondering how those same edits were used for this image, let me show you!

 

(And if you wanted to check out The Shield, you can do so by clicking here.)

 

 

Like with The Shield, in The Illusion I first lightened the shadows and darkened the highlights to minimize the bright, noon-day sun induced contrast. I also darkened the background, lightened the subject, and added a little bit of vignette to draw the eye immediately to our Rider. And like the first image, I also warmed the image and adjusted the color to get some richer tones.

 

So, with all the basic editing done to match The Shield, I could then focus on the coolest part: adding the illusion.

 

In the books, we are first introduced to the ability to create illusions in First Rider’s Call, the second book in the series. To help his fellow Green Riders escape enemy pursuit, Rider Pensworth uses his ability to create the illusion of silhouetted Riders at the top of a nearby hill, distracting the enemy while his comrades, flee in the opposite direction, make a daring escape in the dead of night.

Given that it wasn’t night time and there were no hills at our location, recreating this ability in that particular fashion wasn’t exactly possible. What we had to work with instead was a small meadow in the middle of the day, surrounded by forest. Given the differences in scenery, I decided to take some artistic liberties.

 

Besides, in my mind, the ability to create illusions means that the Rider can trick the unsuspecting eye any number of ways, right? Be it a silhouette at night, or smoke during the day… I would imagine these would all be within the capabilities of a Rider possessing this ability.

 

 

With all that being said, and the final image now published, I once again find myself feeling slightly nervous, to be honest! I know how special the Green Rider books are to me, and I have done my utmost to put my passion and love for this series into the images I am creating. But I know there are many people like yourself who are just as passionate about this series as I am, and my thoughts have turned to you quite frequently throughout this whole process.

Am I doing these books justice?

Am I doing Kristen justice?

And am I helping, at least in some small way, to bring this world that Kristen has created to life?

 

 

I sincerely hope so, because despite the doubts and fears that sometimes arise, this has been one of the funnest and most rewarding projects I have done to date… and I am excited for this adventure to continue!

 

P.S. I’d be interested to know: when you read Pensworth’s passage in the book, and when you think of the ability to create illusions, what comes to your mind first? Let me know in the comments below!

P.P.S. A huge shoutout to my model Sam Clewley, for being a fantastic Green Rider!